USCIS Fee Schedule: Filing Fees, Waivers, and Premium Processing

The USCIS fee schedule sets what you owe to file each immigration form, and the amounts run from nothing for certain humanitarian categories to more than $1,400 for a green card application. Most common forms fall between about $625 and $1,440, with a $50 discount for filing online. The exact fee depends on the form, your age, how you file, and sometimes your eligibility category, and paying the wrong amount by even a dollar means the entire application comes back unopened.

Current Fees for the Most Common Forms

USCIS updates its fees periodically based on processing costs.¹ The official fee schedule is published as Form G-1055, last updated on April 23, 2026.² The forms most people file carry these amounts:

Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative: $675 by paper, $625 online.
Form N-400, Application for Naturalization: $760 by paper, $710 online.³
Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status: $1,440 by paper, $1,390 online for applicants 14 and older. Children under 14 filing alongside a parent pay $950 by paper or $900 online.⁴

Most forms carry a $50 discount when filed online instead of by mail, and that discount is applied automatically through the USCIS online filing system.⁴

Under the 2024 fee rule, biometric costs are folded into the main filing fee for most forms, so there is no longer a separate $30 biometrics charge on applications like the N-400 or I-485.⁵ A $30 biometric fee still applies to Temporary Protected Status filings on Form I-821 and certain filings through the Executive Office for Immigration Review.⁴

Filing Multiple Forms Together

You can submit Form I-765 for employment authorization and Form I-131 for a travel document at the same time as an I-485. Each form that carries a fee must be paid in full. USCIS does not offer a bundled discount for filing multiple forms together, and whether a separate fee is owed for the I-765 depends on your eligibility category.⁶

New Fees Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21, also referred to as HR-1) created a separate set of immigration fees that took effect in 2026 and were adjusted for inflation on January 1, 2026.⁷ These are charged on top of any existing USCIS filing fees, not instead of them. Any application postmarked on or after January 1, 2026 must include the updated amount, or USCIS will reject it.

The HR-1 amounts that affect the most people:

Asylum application, Form I-589: $100 to file, plus a $102 annual fee for each calendar year the application remains pending.⁸
Employment authorization for asylum applicants: $560 for an initial work permit, $275 for renewals.
Temporary Protected Status, Form I-821: $510.
Special Immigrant Juvenile, Form I-360: $250.
Parole-based employment authorization: $560 initial, $280 for renewals.⁷

The annual pending asylum fee is easy to overlook. It accrues every calendar year your case stays open, and USCIS can reject or deny your case if it goes unpaid.

Premium Processing for a Faster Decision

For certain employment-based petitions, you can pay extra by filing Form I-907 to guarantee USCIS takes action within a set timeframe, typically 15 business days. Action can mean a decision, a request for evidence, or a notice of intent to deny, not necessarily an approval.

As of March 1, 2026, the premium processing fees are:⁹

$1,780 for H-2B and R-1 worker petitions on Form I-129, and OPT/STEM OPT employment authorization on Form I-765.
$2,075 for change of status to F, J, or M student and exchange visitor classifications on Form I-539, and for dependents of E, H, L, O, P, or R nonimmigrants.
$2,965 for most other eligible petitions, including H-1B, L-1, O-1, and all Form I-140 immigrant worker petitions.

Premium processing is only available for Forms I-129, I-140, I-765 (limited to F-1 OPT), and I-539 (limited to certain student and exchange visitor categories).¹⁰ Family-based petitions like the I-130 and adjustment of status applications on the I-485 are not eligible.

Fee Waivers, Reduced Fees, and Exemptions

If the standard fee is out of reach, USCIS offers three different forms of relief depending on your income and immigration category.

Full Fee Waiver on Form I-912

You can request a complete waiver by submitting Form I-912 with your application. You generally qualify if your household income is at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, if you receive a means-tested benefit like Medicaid or SNAP, or if you have a financial hardship such as unexpected medical bills or job loss.¹¹

Waivers are not available for every form. The eligible list includes the N-400, I-485 in certain categories, I-751, I-765, I-90, and about a dozen others.¹² Fee waivers do not cover the new HR-1 fees created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.¹³ Filing a waiver request for a form that isn’t on the eligible list means your application will be returned.

Reduced Naturalization Fee on Form I-942

Naturalization applicants who earn too much for a full waiver can use Form I-942 to request a reduced fee if their household income is more than 150% but no more than 400% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.¹⁴ If approved, the N-400 fee drops to $320, plus a separate $85 biometric services fee, for a total of $405. You’ll need documentation such as federal tax returns or recent pay stubs.

Automatic Humanitarian Exemptions

Some categories are exempt from filing fees automatically, without any showing of financial need.¹⁵ Those groups include VAWA self-petitioners and their derivatives, T nonimmigrants (trafficking victims), U nonimmigrants (crime victims), refugees and persons paroled as refugees, Special Immigrant Juveniles, Afghan and Iraqi translators and interpreters who worked for the U.S. government along with their derivatives, and battered spouses and children under the Cuban Adjustment Act, the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act, and NACARA.

The exemption covers specific forms tied to the humanitarian category, typically the I-485, I-765, and I-131, not every form the person might ever file. The full list of exemptions appears in the G-1055 fee schedule.¹³

How to Confirm Your Exact Fee

Because the amount depends on the form, filing method, your age, and sometimes your eligibility category, the safest step before filing is the USCIS online fee calculator. It walks through your situation and returns the exact figure. For a reference document, Form G-1055 lists every form with its current fee.² Verify the amount immediately before filing, since USCIS updates fees without much fanfare and an outdated figure from a few months ago can trigger a rejection.

Age matters most on the I-485. Children under 14 who file concurrently with a parent pay $950 by paper or $900 online, compared to $1,440 or $1,390 for applicants 14 and older.⁴ A child under 14 filing alone, without a parent’s concurrent I-485, pays the full adult fee.

How to Pay

Payment methods depend on whether you file by mail or online. The amount must be exact, not rounded up or estimated, or the entire application is returned.

Paper Filings

For applications sent by mail, three payment options are accepted:

Credit, debit, or prepaid card, using Form G-1450 (Authorization for Credit Card Transactions) placed on top of the application package.¹⁶
Bank account withdrawal by ACH, using Form G-1650. Anyone with a U.S. checking or savings account can pay on your behalf by signing the form. If your bank has a debit block on the account, contact the bank and whitelist USCIS before filing.¹⁷
Check or money order drawn on a U.S. financial institution, payable in U.S. currency, and made out to “U.S. Department of Homeland Security” spelled out in full, with no abbreviations like “USDHS” or “DHS.”¹⁸

Certain forms governed by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act no longer accept personal checks, money orders, or cashier’s checks unless you qualify for a specific exemption.⁸ Check the instructions for your specific form before mailing paper payment.

Online Filings

Filing through the USCIS online system automatically routes you to the Department of the Treasury’s Pay.gov portal, where you can pay by credit card, debit card, prepaid card, or bank withdrawal.¹⁸ The system won’t let you submit without the correct amount, which eliminates the most common rejection reason for paper filers.

Payments From Outside the United States

USCIS cannot process ACH transactions from a foreign bank or accept credit or debit cards issued by foreign banks.¹⁸ If you live abroad and are filing at a USCIS lockbox or service center, payment must come from a U.S. financial institution. For filings at an international USCIS office, accepted methods vary by location, so check that office’s instructions.

Refunds and Failed Payments

USCIS fees are generally non-refundable regardless of whether your application is approved, denied, or withdrawn.¹ A refund is considered only when USCIS made an error, such as collecting the wrong amount or directing you to file a form you didn’t need. Request a refund by contacting the USCIS Contact Center or sending a written request to the office handling your case. Card payments cannot be disputed or charged back through your bank; USCIS treats those transactions as final.

If a check bounces or an ACH payment fails, USCIS will attempt to resubmit it once. A second failure can lead to rejection of the filing. If the payment fails after the application was already approved, USCIS can revoke that approval through a Notice of Intent to Revoke.¹⁸ You would then have a chance to respond with the correct payment, but the delay and uncertainty make it worth confirming that the account has sufficient funds before you file.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual – Fees
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Fee Schedule
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. N-400, Application for Naturalization
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 Fee Schedule
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 2024 Final Fee Rule
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Filing Form I-765 with Other Forms
7
Federal Register. Inflation Adjustment to HR-1 Immigration Fees
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal
9
Federal Register. Adjustment to Premium Processing Fees
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Request for Premium Processing Service
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Poverty Guidelines
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-912, Request for Fee Waiver
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Fee Waivers and Fee Exemptions
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-942, Request for Reduced Fee
15
eCFR. Fee Waivers and Exemptions
16
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions
17
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1650, Authorization for ACH Transactions
18
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Filing Fees